Relay



Patented Nov. 2, 1926.

UNVIED` STATES 1,605,216 ria-TENT eFfIc;

Arnstin fr, elimina, or ALBANY, NEW XOR-K, ssieiyionnrnnsnnnssieniiinnms'ro GENERAL RAILWAY SrGNAi. COMPANY, A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

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.'l, v 1; Application ied November 14, 1922. Serial No. 600,909.

My invention relates tolrelays and particularly to relays forcontrolling the operation of railway 'signaling devices; One object ofmy invention is the provision of a relay characterized by highefticiency of operation and permanence of calibration. VI Will describeone form of `relay embodying my invention,

and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

Infthe accompanying drawing Fig. I is a vertical sectional vietvyshowing one form of relay embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a verticalvsectional vievv on the line II-II of Fig.y l, showing one forni ofstructure enibodying my invention for adjustably mountfA ingthe relayarmature with relation to the pole pieces of theelectroin agifiet. y t

Similar reference `characters refer to simllar` parts' in each of theviews. l I

'Referring first to Fig'.` l, the` relay coinpri'ses a' topf plate l ofinsulating material such as porcelain, a bottom plate 30, usually ofmetal, and glass side Walls 3l, separated from the' plates by gaskets38. The top and bottom plates are spaced bythe side Walls and by cornerposts vvhichare not shown in the drawing, andare held together by screws32, oneV only of vvhich' is shown in the drdiving". 4 ,v

Wounted in thel top plate l is an electromagnet, designated as a Wholeby the reference character A, and comprising, as usual, two windings 2,2 surrounding cores 222?, which cores'I project through the top plate land terminate in pole pieces 3, 3 resting against the underside of thetop plate` ,The

electr(indagine-t'` contrels an'L armaturee vvihich is pivotally mountedat 6, in4 the inan-` ner hereinafter explained, and this armature inturn through Contact lingers or arnis, F controls a plurality of frontcontacts 8 and a" plurality of back contacts'B. In the ,dravvings I haveshown onlyv one front and one back contact Aand one linger or arm F, butir accordance with usual practice there ,or`

dinarily be a number of such contacts each behind the. other as vievvedin l. v l

The armature 5 is pivotally attached to the pole pieces 3 on an axis 6.,The structure by which this is accomplished-is asI follows: Asupporting' bracket 22 (see. Figs. I and 2) is attached to pole pieces 3by. means of screits 24' jvhichpass through vertically elongatedslotsl23 in the bracket and which enter threaded holes in the pole pieces."This bracket is provided with ltwo pairs of down- Wardly projecting ears22a whichl carry a trunnion 6 one end of Which is anchored'in thebracket'itself, as shown in F The rear edge of the uf-mature 5 isprovided with Wings 5a Which project bet-Ween the tyvoears of each pairand which Wings are perfo rated to receive the pivot trunnion 6. Itlwill be seen, therefor@ that the vertical position of the pivotal axisof the ,armature 5 Vmay be adjustedby shifting the bracket 2Q verticallyWithin the limits of the sllfj'tsQS;V To accomplish this adjustmentthree adjusting screws are pro-vided one of Which, 48,. passes throughthe middle of the bracket and enters a threaded hole in the topl Vplatel.V Surrounding this screyv isa coiled spring I4-Q which' pressesyajgainst the topv` plate and against the bracketand so forces thebracket to follow this screw as the screw isr released. The other tt'voscrews pass through threaded' holes at the ends of the"bracket 22 andbear against the underside of the top plate one. 'Ifhesve lastl twoscrevvsserve the double purpose of adjusting; the air for length andalso adjusting the parallelism th'eair gap between the armature theunder faces ofthe polepiecei 3, both of which are accomplished by themicrometer adj'us'tf ment affordedr yby thel screws 434 and 45, Afterthe desired adjustment of the bracket 22' has been ,accomplished thisbracket',A is locked' Y in position by tightening the screvtsQfl. y i tu It Will be' notedA thatthve trunnien 6 on which the arn'iature ismounted isa rod one end `of which is bent overland sprung into asuitable hole in the bracket 22. This, trunnion @is preferably a pieceof phosphor bronze spring' rod stock.v y y I have found from ekperiencethat if ,a constant minimum air gap,is maintained be tween the frnt edgeofthe arma-turejand the polelpie'ces, it is possibletodn'iprove theoperating' characteristics, of the relay;` tobe more specific it ispossible tovreduce'` the amount of current necessary to closethefarmature `against its frontV stop. ,Forl this rea-y son Ihavelocated `the front stopltvery close tio the front edge 4of `thearmature. ,This makes it necessary Ito provide Ifor adj ustriient4betweenv the rear edge of they la"rinatureandy the pole pieces, and thisis of courseprovided by the vertical adjust-ment ot bracket 22 asexplained hereinbetore.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when the relay is de-energizedthe contact tip 12 is separated from the contact member 8, and the partsoccupy the positions in which they'are shown in Fig. 1. Then the relaybecomes energized, however, armature 5 swings upwardly until stopped byengagement with the front stop et so that the contact tip 12 is broughtinto engagement with the contact member 8.

It is customary practice in assembling relays of this kind to soproportion the parts that the contact 12-8 is closed while the armatureis travelling through the last 7/1000 measured at its front air gap, i.e. measured at the right hand edge of the armature as viewed in Fig. 1.During this travel of the armature the contact pressure developedbetween members 12 and 8 should be approximately 11/2 oz. The procedureot assembling the relay and adjusting for this desired pressure may beas follows: The armature 5, with all parts carried thereby, areassembled before being placed in the relay, and a pressure oit 11/2 oz.is exerted on the contact tip 12. The armature 5 with the parts attachedthereto, is then mounted in the relay and a spacer 7/1000 thick isinserted between the front .stop i and the front edge of the armature.The back air gap is then adjusted by vertical adjustment ot bracket 22for the opening which corresponds to the desired drop-away current valueof the magnet, and after this setting has been obtained the bracket 22is locked in position by tightening the screws 24 with the spacer stillin place. The carbon button 8 is then brought down to just touch thecontact tip 12, when the armature is closed against the spacer, andbutton 8 is then locked in place by means of the locknut 19. It will beseen that it the spacer is now removed and the armature is closedagainst the front stop i the same contact pressure will be developedbetween the members 12 and 8 as was created between these members at thetime that the spring 13 was adjusted. In other words, the contactpressure will be 11/2v oz. It will also be seen that when the armature 5has dropped away 7/1000 from the front stop L the contact tip 12 will bejust leaving the carbon button 8. The condition will be such that thedrop-away current will be the same as that which was observed when theback air gap was adjusted before the carbon button had been placed inadjusted position.

It now remains to adjust the relay for the desired opening betweencontact 9a and contact 15 ot Fig. 1. This adjustment is made byinserting a spacer, such as referred to, of 7/1000 of an inch inthickness, between the front stop f1 and the front edge of the armatureand then energizing the coils 2 2, with suriicient current to hold thearmature against the said spacer, when by turning the screw 18 thedesired contact opening may be obtained. Screw 18 is locked in adjustedposition by means of the nut 18 and the circuit controller structure isthen in final adjustment.

The structure i'or the pivotal mounting of armature 5, eliminatescertain troubles which have been experienced in the past, such asbinding of the armature in its pivot pins. The construction which I haveshown and described makes it necessary for the parts to be ot propersize and shape, as otherwise they cannot be assembled. The trunnion 6passes through six holes, four of which are in the bracket 22 and theother two of which Sii are in the armature wing 5a. These holes must bein alignment or the trunnion 6 will not enter them. It will also benoted that this construction guarantees end play ofthe armature, thisbeing obtained in the milling operation on bracket 22 and armature 5.That is to say, it is a simple machining operation in a gang millingmachine to provide the proper clearances between the ears 22a of eachpair on the bracket and the armature wing 5EL which projects betweenthese ears. Briefly, then, this trunnion construction insured both theproper end play of the armature and also the proper trunnion radialclearance. Furthermore it is very easy to remove, inspect, and replacethe armature, and the structure is very cheap to manufacture as comparedwith past practice.

I have found from experience that when a relay is constructed inaccordance with my invention the working current is remarkably low, andthe pickup and release current values can be made substantially the samethroughout a wide range of working currents.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of relayembodying my invention, it is understood that various changes andmodiiications may be made therein within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described I claim is:

s 1. A relay comprising a magnet having pole pieces, a bracket carriedby said pole pieces and capable of adjustment in a plane parallel withthe cores of said magnet, a trunnion rod lixed against endwise movementin said bracketby having its end engaging a pocket in said bracket, andan armature pivotally mounted on said rod and controlled by said magnet.

2. A relay comprising a magnet having pole-pieces. a bracket carried bysaid polepieces and having two pairs of projecting ears, an armaturecontrolled by said magnet my invention, what Uli and having two wingslocated between the two ears of each of said pairs, and a rod anchoredin said bracket and passing through said ears and wings.

3. A relay comprising a. magnet having pole-pieces, a bracket carried bysaid pole pieces and capable of adjustment in a plane parallel with thecores of said magnet and having two pairs of projecting ears, anarmature cont-rolled by said magnet and having two wings located betweenthe two ears of each said pairs, and a rod anchored in said bracket andpassing through said ears and wings.

4. A relay comprising a magnet having vertically disposed pole pieces, abracket adjacent said pole pieces having vertically disposed slotstherein, screws passing through said slots and engaging said pole piecesfor securely `clamping said bracket to said pole pieces, an armaturepivotally mounted in said bracket and controlled by said magnet, andmicrometric means for adjust-ing said bracket and said armature relativeto said pole pieces.

5. A relay ycomprising a magnet having pole pieces, a bracket carrying apivotally mounted armature extending across l said pole pieces andcontrolled by said magnet,

and means for adjustably mounting said bracket on said pole piecescomprising, spring means constantly urging said bracket in one directionrelative to said pole pieces, micrometrically adjustable means forlimiting the movement of said bracket under the influence of said springmeans, and clamping means engaging said pole pieces for retaining saidbracket in its adjusted position.

G. A relay comprising a magnet having pole pieces, a bracket carrying apivotally mounted armature extending across said pole pieces andcontrolled by said magnet, and means for adj ustably mounting saidbracket on said pole pieces comprising, spring means constantly urgingsaid bracket in one direction relative to said pole pieces,micrometrically adjustable means for limiting the movement of saidbracket under the influence of said spring means, adjustable stop meanscarried by said bracket and engaging a member secured to said polepieces for adjusting the angular position of said bracket and saidarmature relative to said pole pieces, and clamping means engaging saidpole pieces for retaining said bracket in its adjusted posit-ion,

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

AINSLIE T. CARTER.

